Why do lawyers cling to their offices?

I came across a post (at the interesting "In Search of Perfect Client Service" blog) that offered some explanation to the question of why lawyers cling to their offices.  Mr. Lamb talks about the virtues of collaboration, and how collaboration is more effective when it occurs in person.  (Litigation is difficult without collaboration..therefore, litigation does not lend itself to a virtual practice.)  I'm not so sure, although I could be wrong (it wouldn't be the first time!). 

Try this for a middle ground.  Why do lawyers insist on getting expensive office space at marquee addresses?  Are we not well past the point that a client is so simplistic that it (or he/she) will be impressed simply by an expensive address (or not realize that the additional overhead is merely being passed on to the client)?  Where are the law firms that reject high end office space in favor of something more alternative, either in location or setup? (Surely we can collaborate without having our individual offices?  How about a couple of conference rooms and an open space?)  I think it's partially a matter of status.  Status for clients.  Status for law firms.  And more importantly, status for individual lawyers.  We work hard to get where we are and it's oddly satisfying I admit to enjoy the fruits of your labors in this manner.  You have a nice office with a view, pictures of your family, your toys, an ode to your hobbies (signed baseball glove or something?).  It's basically a testament to your accomplishment and skill.  Some people have Madame Tussauds.  We lawyers have our offices.  It has nothing to do with functionality.  (I guess it makes you feel good while you work, but that argument can be stretched pretty far.)  When was the last time a client actually visited you in your office?  The bulk of the "important conversations" take place over email/blackberry anyway, so if there was a visit it was probably just to catch up and have coffee (and enjoy the view). 

Then there's the question of collaboration.  There's been a ton of ink spilled on the question of whether employees are more productive when they work face to face or whether a more distributed workforce can be equally as productive.  I doubt I could add much to that discussion here.  But Mr. Lamb raises an interesting tweak to this question.  Litigation is undeniably a collaborative effort.  Litigation is also document intensive.  I suspect the two are related.  The process of collecting discovery documents, preparing for depositions and filings (and trial) is where a ton of the heavy (partially administrative) lifting in a case take place.  (And as a side note, much of this fits between being clearly a lawyer's task and something the clients are less excited about paying for - classic outsourcing material!)  Virtual collaboration in litigation is a non-starter without a wonderful document storage system in place.  It sort of derails the conference call when everyone is talking about a particular document or exhibit and 3 out of 4 people cannot readily locate it.  Both of these problems can be addressed by a functional, secure document storage/retrieval system.  Once you have all your documents on-line, organized, and labeled, this cuts down on the administrative burdens of litigation and increases the efficacy of not-in-person collaboration.  The problem?  The system is either expensive (prohibitively so for a smaller shop - maybe it runs the cost of a year-long lease for a downtown office space?) or does not exist.  (I notice more and more, people are simply turning over documents in electronic form.  This solves half the problem.)  Even if "a system" exists, it requires humans to operate it, and this is easier said than done.  I think this problem will be solved in due course (and I'm sure some firms already have systems in place..I'm curious about Mr. Lamb's).  Either way, the point is that document organization is related to virtual collaboration, and lawyers are far from cracking the document organization puzzle.

I think it's also a matter of culture that lawyers need to work collaboratively in-person. I don't know why lawyers and law firms are so slow to the idea that people should be able to get their work done wherever they want.  Could it be the fault of the much maligned billable hour's old cousin known as "face time"?  Other lawyers also tend to embrace the ethos of the lawyer from the movie "A Few Good Men."  The scene with Tom Cruise and his co-counsel in Tom Cruise's apartment comes to mind.  Lt. Kaffee scrambles to find his baseball bat.  Co-counsel asks him what's going on, and Kaffee admits in a panic that he can't think without his baseball bat.  For these lawyers, "collaboration" is all about camaraderie, or at least that's a big part of it.  I worked with a lawyer who relished late night pizza in the office.  (Don't they all?)  I didn't mind it, but for him it was a jocky affair.  In fact, the few instances in which I tried to collaborate from home were ineffective, and not because collaboration wasn't taking place.  The problem was there was no pizza!  I suspect these things make collaboration seem like it must take place in person.  I'm guessing this notion will fall away over time.   

I wonder how far away we are from going office-less?  I think the cultural resistance is more important than any technological or logistical issues.  Anecdotally speaking, it seems like the cultural shift is taking a lot longer than expected. 
 
NB:  here's an Above The Law post (Notes from the Breadline) that factors the cost of office space as the number one hurdle (although the list is in "no particular order") to starting your own practice.  The crazy thing is that in this day, many clients will probably be more impressed with a nice website/no office than a starter office/starter website.  Unsolicited advice to Ms. St. Thomas: if you go down the path, take that extra money and put it into a website!  Don't get an office.

More:  comments from Jay Parkhill (of Virtual Law Partners) - worth reproducing in full:

I have been working out of my house for ~3 years, first solo and then as a partner at Virtual Law Partners. A few quick observations:

1) It is *hard* to be alone in your office all day every day. I need to get out and meet people, which then cuts into my efficiency & time for client work. There is a reason people work in offices, marquee or otherwise.

2) The document management stuff is still taking baby steps, but I bet in 10 years lawyers will be able to remotely collaborate even on complex litigation. Document management, conferencing and desktop sharing software is getting pretty darn good- not to mention the ubiquitous broadband that makes it all work.

3) It requires an extra level of attention to organization to manage documents and processes virtually. This isn't a good or bad thing necessarily- it's just a different set of work requirements.

Good observations.